Shout outs...

My sister sent me a great post yesterday (http://bouska.blogspot.com/2008/05/time-to-eat.html
and it got me started reading other blogs. I read and clicked and read and clicked and in the end was thoroughly entertained/intrigued. I know what you're thinking, but I was still able to get my work done. Anyway, there are some really funny, witty, provocative folks gettin' they're thang on in the blogsphere. I thought I would take this opportunity to point you in the direction of a handful that I definitely will be visiting on regular basis. Unless otherwise noted attach (.blogspot.com) onto the name of the blog to pay a visit.

bouska
afrobertson
the12thplanet
ineedamartini
thejadednyer.net (this is the otherwise noted one)
randomishnycsarcasm-this one is my sister's so I had to list it. :)

The other thing I want to say is thanks to all my peeps for reading and commenting on my posts. As I have alluded too in the past this is my ticket out of obscurity so I need you (if you haven't already) to post your comments on the blog, that way I will appear to be popular and widely read. In addition "fan out" tell everyone you can think of about my sterling wit and encourage them to take a peek.

I appreciate your support.

K.

Maybe I will have another opinion to share soon....Be well.

Some more extra stuff about me:
Tonight is the season finale of Lost and it is going to be "CRAZY" good. Please don't even think about calling me after 9pm.

Post script: Just like me...

I've been thinking about what I wrote and 3 things came to mind.

1. I hope I didn't sound all high and mighty waxing all poetic about being the best parents that we can be.

2. I didn't write it because that's how I am with my kids, I was writing about how I want to be with my kids.

3.How in the hell do we do this job, without question the hardest one there is?

Yesterday, I was not successful in reaching that goal. I completely lost it with my son in the morning. Now to be fair, he was pushing my buttons (really hard, like leaning on a car horn hard) and I wanted to stay in "the happy place" but I could literally feel my blood boiling. BAM!! I'm yelling, he's upset and the day is shot, all this before 8:00am. Sometimes I feel completely ill equipped for the challenges of parenting. These little buggers show up with no instructions and every time you think you've got them figured out, they change or we change or something changes. I wish there was a go to place for all the right answers, but I know there is not, you just have to jump in feet first and learn from trial and error. Its just worrisome when you're in the error zone, you don't want to mess them up for life. After all thanks to Freud I know that 20 years from now, when they're stretched out on some therapist couch talking about being unable to commit or some other crisis, they will realize that everything is all my fault. Anyway, tomorrow is another day and we all get the chance to start over. What do you do with your kids? How do you handle the challenges?

Maybe I will have another opinion to share soon.....Be well.

Some more extra stuff about me:
I have a few girl crushes, nothing crazy, just people that I think are pretty kool. I love that Alicia Keys is the total package and I can listen to her music with my kids in earshot. Her new video for "Teenage Love Affair" takes me back to my college days. I'm digging how bad ass Rihanna is, daring to be different. I just read that she cut her hair way back when she first came out and the record cloning factory (company) made her dye it that pop star, black girl blonde, but this time around she simply refused. I love Majora Carter, founder of Sustainable South Bronx. She is taking environmental justice to the next level; Al Gore is checking for her. Visit her org's site at www.ssbx.org. My favorite album right know is Ledisi - Lost and Found. She is awesome. Oh yeah, I also love the word of the day from dictionary.com.

Just like me...

I have a 9 yr. old son and a 7 yr. old daughter and they are great kids. Both are cute, smart, funny, amusing and did I mention cute? :) But boy do they get on my nerves. They take forever in the bathroom, they won't get up in the morning and they won't go to bed at night. When they're playing together its loud and when they're fighting its even louder. I don't have enough arms to be able to pick up after them and if I am breathing I'm doing laundry. Uggg!
The other day my daughter thought is would be fun if we took turns pretending to be each other. She went first and as me, she started yelling at me and saying all of the things I say to them about what they are not doing. She was really scolding me. Well the whole thing stopped me in my tracks and I had an idea of what she and her brother must feel like when I am laying into them. I realized that while like every parent I get frustrated, that I need to keep that type of stuff in check. My issues are my issues and there is no need to share the burden with them. They are only doing the kinds of things kids do, making messes, being noisy, many of the same things I did when I was a kid. Hell, I still hate to get up in the morning. I have got to be more aware of how I talk to them and what I say. After all it is my job is to build them up, not beat them down. I want them both to be effective communicators when they have to fend for themselves out in the world and those lessons start with me. Our kids want to be like us, no matter what, whether we are at our best or our not so best. It is our responsibility to make the effort to be on the side of our best as often as possible.
I have a 9 yr. old son and a 7 yr. old daughter and they are great kids and I am lucky to have them.

Maybe I will have another opinion to share soon.....Be well.

Transit thoughts....

This one may be a little long, bare with me.

I commute to NYC for work via the Long Island Railroad. I purchase a monthly ticket to cover the cost. On the 1st morning of a new month you are allowed to use the previous month's ticket but you must have the proper ticket on the return trip in the P.M. This month I used my April ticket on the morning of May 1st. with the intention of buying a May ticket that afternoon. On my way home I got a little sidetracked when I stopped to get a "sweet tea" (read my 1st post) and forgot to buy my monthly ticket. Uh ooooooh! I realized I'd forgotten as soon as the doors of the train closed. So, when the conductor comes through to check tickets, in my most humble voice I say "I don't have my ticket". BTW I also don't have any cash (all I had was $1.09, which I used on the tea). I never do, I use my trusty debit card for everything. Thus I am not even in a position to pay the jacked up fee they charge you for buying a ticket on the train. Oh yeah, as you already know I am black, the conductor was not. Well he is none too happy with me and he does not hold back letting me know. He starts telling me that this is unacceptable, it has been happening all through the train and that I'm going to have to pay. "I don't have any cash sir", I say. Well as you can imagine he gets angrier and he starts to yell at me and tell me he may have to call the police, etc... Now I don't check him on his tone and attitude because I am totally in the wrong and you know the old saying "you can catch more flies with honey blah, blah, blah. Being the skilled multitasker he his, he continues to go off on me, while asking the woman in the next bank of seats for her ticket-she happened to be black also. You guessed, it she was in the same situation as me, needless to say he straight loses it. After he rants some more we are both asked to produce identification, which he uses to scan a list he has in his pocket, which I assume is some sort of repeat offender list. Neither one of us is on his list. He issues us both a summons/ticket that must be paid by mail or at the main terminal in Penn Station. So clearly there is a procedure in place for such an occurrence. Fast forward to this past week, some 20 days into the month. I'm on my way home and a conductor is making his way through the train checking tickets (different guy, same persuasion). He comes upon a woman who is not black and she produces an April ticket, "I don't have my ticket" she says. The conductor mutters something under his breath, while giving her the evil eye and then without so much as a word he continues to travel through the train car. There is no yelling, no ranting, no threats, no embarrassment and most importantly no replacement ticket. I think to myself what is that all about? Is it simply a matter of inconsistency in enforcing policies or does she get a pass because of something else? What do you think?

Maybe I will have another opinion to share soon.....Be Well.

More tea talk...

My first post was 5 days ago and it has had a profound impact on my life. First, I think I could really get hooked on this blogging thing, I've since started carrying a notebook to record random thoughts or ideas to write about. Second, I loved the attention I got from those who commented on my first post, it doesn't even matter that of the 5 posted comments I received 3 came from my 2 sisters and one from someone who is sorta like a sister to me . The 5th came from my new best friend, big shout outs to 12Kyle. My husband read it and said it was "nice" which I'm deciding meant he "loved" it. The 3rd most profound effect blogging has had on my life, is that I had my first "sweet tea" today. That's right a whopping 5 days after I went on and on about the masterful goodness that is McD's "sweet tea". Now I know what your thinking "what kind of sweet tea crack head could she be"? Did she just do it for the sake of fame? The answer is no, rest assured I am the real deal and while I hadn't had on in about a week, I had been thinking about having one everyday. The problem is, that calorie information really got to me. I have this christening to go to in a few weeks and I bought this dress and hold it... I know what your thinking but the dress fits, it would just fit so much better less a few pounds. An additional 200+ calories (sometimes double that) a day is going to make that dress thing a real issue. So I just eased up a little. There is no need to go into detail on the effects of the banana pudding I had on Wednesday night and the peach cobbler I had on Thursday night, that just won't be helpful to what I am trying to convey here. The point is today when I sipped that nectar of the gods (w/2 lemons) I realized how much I missed it and it missed me. So I have decided to find my dress motivation elsewhere, I will be having another sweet tea tomorrow.

Maybe I'll have another opinion to share soon.....Be well.

Here it goes...

My sister has been blogging for a few months now and loves it, so she had been nagging-I mean encouraging me to give it a try. I am one of those people who likes to read, watches lots of television and then formulates opinions on everything, which I promptly share with her, my husband and my co workers. So I guess she thought I should play nice and share with others, or I'm getting on her nerves. She also suggested the topic for my 1st. post-my latest addiction Mickey D's new sweet tea. My family is country, they hail from South Carolina-Orangeburg to be exact and though I was born in Queens, and raised in Brooklyn (NY) we grew up with many traditional southern influences. My Nana makes a mean sweet potato pie and people have had something akin to a religious experience after having my mother's fried chicken. I put that out there so you'll understand, that I know a little something about the finer points of many things southern and I know a little something about what makes a good "sweet tea". I know that if you travel down Interstate 95 that once you hit Maryland, from then on there is no need to ask "Is the tea sweetened?" Of course it is because downsouth (yes, that is one word) that's how people drink tea. Now I don't know about you, but I don't expect much from these large fast food places. I appreciate the familiarity, so that if I'm in a food bind or a money pinch I can get something and not have to think to hard about it. I don't expect perfection, but something crazy has happened and dammit McDonald's has stumbled upon something so close to perfection it boggles the mind. The tea has the perfect amount of sweetness, it doesn't loose its flavor when poured over a heaping mound of ice and the lemon ( you need to actually squeeze the lemon wedge into your tea) adds the perfect twang. OMG!! that tea is good. How could I leave out the most important part, the cup that it is served in is 32oz. and all this sweet goodness costs only $1.oo. That's right you heard me, $1.00. I have been drinking one everyday for the last couple of weeks. I plan my commute home accordingly so that I will have enough time to stop and get a sweet tea before I get on the train. The other morning I was feeling a little stressed and I had one to calm my nerves and it worked. When my kids ask for a sip, I get upset, I don't want to share. I know this all sounds crazy, but I have no shame, there is a sweet tea monkey on my back and I think I can carry the extra weight. I learned tonight while preparing for this post, that a 32oz. serving has 230 calories and that doesn't even bother me that much.
Well.......maybe it bothers me a little. Maybe that little tidbit is the one flaw, in this otherwise flawless invention. Okay, okay that part really sucks. I don't want to act rashly, now that I have this caloric information, I will need to think very carefully about my next move. Maybe, a sip of sweet tea will clear my head.
Maybe I will have another opinion to share soon.......Be well.


Some extra stuff about me:
I am completely wrapped up in this election, "Obama 08". I am sick that I will have to wait another year to see what national/international catastrophes will go unsolved because Jack Bauer is not available and I have loved Matthew Fox from his days on "Party of Five" so following him to the "island" on Lost was a no brainer for me. I recently learned to play the game "Celebrity" and I loved it and I never commute to work without my Ipod.